MYSIOAMEWTMMAlTWOAM: Chapter 75

Glossary

·Gu Jinghui (顾靖晖): The male protagonist, the Marquis.

·Qin Yuan (秦鸢): The female protagonist, Marquise of the Dingbei Marquis Household.

·Prince Qi (齐王): A royal prince.

·Qin Jijiu (秦祭酒): Qin Yuan's father. Chancellor of the Imperial College.

·Sixth Madame Gu (六夫人): Wife of the sixth son, Gu Jingjun.

·Gu Jingjun (顾靖钧): The sixth son.

·Zheng Yiniang (郑姨娘): Concubine of Gu Jingjun.

·Hongye (红叶): Qin Yuan's personal maidservant.

·Cuiming (翠茗): Qin Yuan's other maidservant.

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Chapter 75: The Qin Family Seems Dissatisfied With You

Prince Qi smiled genially, seemingly unaffected by the Marquis's stern gaze.

"I overheard you asking the storyteller outside. It wasn't difficult to guess."

Gu Jinghui didn't believe him.

"Just because I asked him for a tale about Lord Guan Yu reading the Spring and Autumn Annals by night, you knew?"

Prince Qi lifted his chin slightly and smiled. "There's a reason, of course. Want to know? If you do, why not buy me a few drinks? I'll explain it to you slowly."

The Marquis eyed Prince Qi warily. "What scheme are you plotting now?"

The Chief Steward accompanying Prince Qi said displeasedly, "How can Marquis Gu speak like this? His Highness has only the best intentions."

The Marquis let out a light scoff and ignored him.

The Chief Steward's face darkened.

Pretending not to see his steward's discomfort, Prince Qi chuckled. "Gu Jinghui, what's this? After all these years apart, are you now afraid to even speak with me?"

"Afraid of you?" Gu Jinghui retorted. "You black-hearted sesame dumpling! I wouldn't fear you if you had eight hundred more tricks up your sleeve. I'm not the same as before."

"Good," said Prince Qi. "This prince came out without any silver, so this meal and drinks are on you then."

He waved a hand, and the Chief Steward promptly called over a server.

"A pot of Sparrow's Tongue tea, Lotus Seed Pancakes, Eight Treasure Duck..."

In the blink of an eye, he had ordered over a dozen dishes.

"Why are you ordering so much?" Gu Jinghui grumbled.

If he wanted to show off, why do it here in the pleasure quarters instead of his own palace? What was he thinking?

"This is too extravagant. At the northern frontier, I had two dishes per meal. Since returning to the capital, any leftovers are given to the maids and servants."

His young wife's rewards were essentially his rewards—no issue there.

"This prince will give any leftovers to the beggars outside. See that one? The one standing outside the shop, staring in?" Prince Qi gestured vaguely towards the street below the window.

The Marquis remained silent, his face grim.

Prince Qi said idly, "Does it pain you to spend this little on me? Our relationship shouldn't be so shallow. You know full well what happened with Qingyun back then wasn't my fault..."

Before he could finish, Gu Jinghui tossed a silver ingot onto the table and stood to leave.

(read @cherrybombbertranslations.blogspot)

Unfazed, Prince Qi played with the jade pendant at his waist. "When Lord Guan Yu read the Spring and Autumn Annals by night, it was because Cao Cao wanted to test his loyalty to Liu Bei. Do you know why?"

Gu Jinghui halted.

"That storyteller down there is no match for me in discerning people's intentions," Prince Qi continued, tilting his chin downward. "Let me guess. Instead of staying home with your newlywed wife, you come to the pleasure quarters to listen to stories. Did someone hint at something? Qin Jijiu is the Chancellor of the Imperial College. We need not scrutinize his true scholarly merits, but he holds a reputation as a pillar of the literati. With in-laws like that, how can you possibly grasp the deeper meanings behind their words?"

Gu Jinghui sat back down and said sullenly, "The Qin family is perfectly fine. Don't speak of them that way."

A glint flashed in Prince Qi's eyes, and a smile touched his lips. "So you don't mind that the Qin family substituted a concubine-born daughter for the legitimate one?"

Gu Jinghui stood again. "If you insist on speaking of your sister-in-law that way, then let's end this conversation. Don't seek me out with such irrelevant talk in the future. I don't care to hear it."

Prince Qi quickly stood and grabbed his arm. "If you still acknowledge me as a brother, why not talk properly?"

"What is left for us to say?"

Prince Qi looked directly into his eyes, seeing the irritation clouding those sharp, handsome features. He patiently said, "Third Brother, I at least called you 'Third Brother' when we were young. I say these things only because I feel it's unfair to you. I am displeased that the Qin family acted as they did."

Gu Jinghui sighed. "Times have changed. Stay out of my affairs. As for my wife..." He paused, pulling his arm back. "...I am quite satisfied. I wouldn't have liked the original one anyway."

Prince Qi was momentarily stunned. Seeing him about to leave again, he quickly said, "But I wasn't lying to you earlier, Third Brother. The Qin family seems dissatisfied with you. Otherwise, why would they tell you that particular story?"

Gu Jinghui froze.

Prince Qi suppressed a triumphant smirk. "Third Brother, sit down. Let your younger brother explain it properly to you."

...

Wutong Yuan

"Young Lady put me in charge of supervising the tea kitchen, right?" Hongye said. "The matrons there know everything! Probably nothing in this estate can be hidden from them. The first couple of days I tried talking to them, they were evasive and guarded. But now that they've witnessed your capabilities, Young Lady, just me walking around and bumping into a matron gets me some news."

Cuiming couldn't hold back a soft laugh.

(read @cherrybombbertranslations.blogspot)

Qin Yuan also smiled.

"What are you laughing at?" Hongye asked, puzzled.

Cuiming said with a smile, "The way you looked just now was the very picture of someone gloating after a small victory."

Annoyed and amused, Hongye made to pinch Cuiming's mouth.

Qin Yuan suppressed her laughter and changed the subject casually. "You have to admit, the Sixth Master is quite the romantic. He only bought Zheng Yiniang a few months ago, and now he's already eyeing someone else. Zheng Yiniang's price couldn't have been low. The Sixth Master couldn't afford her on his monthly allowance alone."

The Sixth Master held no official post. His allowance from the Marquis estate probably wasn't even enough for his poetry and drinking outings.

In her previous life, Lin Ziqi had wanted to join poetry societies to befriend scholars, but the costs were too high. He could only participate occasionally until after marrying her, when he started attending regularly.

Those poetry societies were a mixed bag.

There were those like the Sixth Master, who enjoyed romantic dalliances and pretended to refined tastes; others with genuine talent whose verses were stunning;还有一些 (and also) those who acted as brokers...

And of course, some, through sheer talent, caught the eye of powerful patrons, smoothing their path to official rank.

Calculating the timing, Lin Ziqi should be nearing the moment he met his patron from the previous life.

In this life, without her to polish his writings, she wondered how he was faring.

Qin Yuan idly twirled the round fan in her hand, studying the golden silk cicada embroidered on it. Layers of subtly different colored silk thread had created the illusion of the cicada's wings—thin, translucent, and seemingly fragile.

'As slight as a cicada's wing'—the phrase suddenly came to Qin Yuan's mind.

All she had done for Lin Ziqi in her previous life was probably viewed by him as something equally slight and insignificant, or perhaps simply taken for granted and not worth mentioning.

But now...

Qin Yuan smiled slightly, refocused her attention, and listened carefully to Hongye.

"With Sixth Madame Gu skimming funds, why would the Sixth Master worry about money?" Hongye said triumphantly. "Those matrons say that every time the Sixth Master wants a new concubine, he makes a huge fuss with Sixth Madame Gu, and she always gives in in the end. Do you think Sixth Madame Gu would use her own dowry to buy concubines for him?"

Cuiming was astounded.

"Considering they even tampered with the accounts of the needlework room, which has meager profits, one can imagine," Qin Yuan said.

Sixth Madame Gu held no old grudge against her. Her repeated attempts to trip Qin Yuan up were solely about control of the household finances.

(read @cherrybombbertranslations.blogspot)

If there were no profits to be gained from managing the household,why would Sixth Madame Gu bother so much?

Officials travel a thousand miles only for wealth.

Sixth Madame Gu's relentless efforts were all for the sake of money.

"Sixth Madame Gu scrapes together money as hard as she can, and the Sixth Master spends it as recklessly as he pleases outside. That couple really is..." Cuiming stopped herself.

As servants, criticizing their masters was always taboo.

Hongye had fewer reservations. "This time, the Sixth Master is determined to make a scene with Sixth Madame Gu. I don't know what they argued about, but Sixth Madame Gu scratched his face, leaving many bloody marks."

(End of Chapter)

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